Photo via the Brooklyn Public Library.
GEOFFREY COBB
Author, “Greenpoint Brooklyn’s Forgotten Past”
gcobb91839@Aol.com
The Giglio Feast is hands down Brooklyn’s greatest scene of street theater and one of the most beauti- ful manifestations of Italian culture in the city. The feast, which runs from July 8th until July 19th, is a tradition that has been passed down from generations of Italian Ameri- cans since 1904. It is the highlight of every July for many local Italian Americans. The roots of the feast stem from the town of Nola, just outside of Naples in Italy, where it has been celebrated for centuries. Immigrants from Nola settled in Williamsburg Brooklyn in the 1880s and brought the feast with them. The celebration is considered the only authentic Giglio celebration outside Italy.
The feast recalls the joyous homecoming of Saint Paolino di Nola, the town’s patron. According to legend, around 410 CE the town of Nola was overrun by North African pirates, who took many captives to be sold into slavery. Moved by the tears of an old widow, whose only son was captured by the pirates, Bishop Paolino took the young man’s place and was ferried away into slavery. While in Northern Africa, the story of Paolino’s sacrifice became known to a Turkish sultan. Overwhelmed by this tale of selflessness and courage, the sultan negotiated the release of Paolino and his fellow Nolani. The entire town rejoiced at their safe return and greeted them with lilies, symbols of purity and love. Over the years, various trade guilds (blacksmiths, tailors, bakers etc.) competed with each other to create the most elaborate display of flow- ers, which evolved eventually into wooden steeples decorated with lilies. (Giglio means lily in Italian).
The most amazing event of the celebration is the lifting of a huge seventy-foot tower with Paolino’s statute at the top. Lifting the tower is a feat of strength since it weighs several tons. The tower is carried through the streets until it meets a replica of Saint Paolino’s boat. The actual “dance” is the lifting and carrying — and “dancing” through the streets —of the huge platform holding a band that plays special Giglio music as the tower moves through the streets. The lifters are local young men who have earned the honor of being chosen to lift. They are directed by a “capo,” an experienced lifter who has earned the special status through community activity.
The Giglio is actually a dual celebration. Although the Giglio tradition honors St. Paulinus, the Williamsburg celebration merged with devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, who was the patron saint of many southern Italian immi- grants. The parish feast and the Gi- glio celebration gradually became one combined festival. The celebrations of the Feast will also include a Mass on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel on July 16th.
It would not be an Italian celebration without great food and music. Vendors line the route of the tower’s path, selling classic Italian favorites, Many nights feature a variety of music. Masses at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish will be cele- brated in Italian, English, Spanish and Creole.
The climactic event is the “Dance of the Giglio,” which will take place on July 12th when the lifters sway, spin, and carefully maneuver the massive tower through the streets around the church in time with music.
Many non-Italians return year after year to enjoy the food, music, atmosphere and spectacle of this unique part of Brooklyn culture. Come out and enjoy this unique event bringing a piece of South- ern Italian culture each year to the streets of Brooklyn.
